columbus thought, that's unusual. columbus then goes on to write that this gate made me realize that the water is coming from a very high place and i began to think that the world is not spherical, the pear-shaped. i stopped right there and i said, wait a minute, they told us that columbus proved the world is round and here he is in his own words say in the is pear-shaped, he then goes onto say, this high point on the earth, where the water comes down is like a woman's, highest and closest to heaven. they didn't tell me that in seventh grade. i'm sure i would've taken notes. but perhaps when you read history or geography and you get it in the sense of the people who've lived through it and this is one of the thing i do in my book is to include these historic voices, american voices, voices of geography, races of the president. it becomes alive, human can a meaningful. it's not just that long list of speeches. indeed, columbus started an era of discovery and exploration that transformed the whole world. it's difficult